Why is Big Labor afraid of the secret ballot?

It is difficult to overstate the importance of labor unions in leveling the playing field for American workers. While there are certainly individual exceptions, corporate employers are not by nature benevolent in their dealings with the people whose honest labor advances their bottom line.

As human beings, employees have a natural right to just compensation and dignified treatment in the workplace. Largely because of the labor union movement, these natural rights have become legal guarantees for millions of workers in this country.

Yet, like Big Business with which it is constantly contending, Big Labor has its own seedy side. For instance, workers who cross a union picket line endure obscenity-laced verbal abuse, threats of physical violence, and even bodily harm, an irony indeed given that they themselves are merely trying to exercise their own natural right to earn a living.

This hard reality factored into a case over which I presided as a Family Court judge. Charged with being in arrears under a child support order, a father explained by way of defense that his union was on strike. His wife, however, asked me to incarcerate him, arguing that his default was willful because he had the option of crossing the picket line and continuing to earn his regular salary.

While acknowledging that her argument was not unreasonable, I denied her application in a written opinion which cited the notorious consequences, both immediate and long-term, that descend on individuals who defy union dictates.

Because unions exercise enormous political muscle, their vocal support and financial contributions can be pivotal for those who seek public office. Aggressively courting unions in the recent presidential campaign, then-candidate Barack Obama consistently pledged his undying support for Big Labor and its number one legislative priority, the Employee Free Choice Act.

As it turned out, union support and money were one of the keys to Obama's winning the presidency. Similarly, in last year's congressional races, candidates supporting the Employee Free Choice Act received approximately $400 million in campaign contributions from organized labor according to the Workforce Fairness Institute.

Now with Obama in the White House and Democrats firmly in control of both houses of Congress, labor leaders are demanding payback. What makes this bad news for American workers is that the Employee Free Choice Act would actually operate to deprive them of the ability to make free choices.

In other words, in a legislative arena where it's become standard operating procedure to adorn controversial bills with euphemistic titles, calling this bill the Employee Free Choice Act just might be the most brazen deception of them all.
SECRET BALLOTS

The legislation would effectively abolish the use of secret ballots when workers decide whether to form a union. Instead, the so-called "card-check" system would be used whereby a union gains recognition as bargaining agent if a majority of employees sign authorization cards.

Considering the brass-knuckle tactics that Big Labor uses to further its agenda, one can imagine the pressure that a worker would face when presented with such an authorization card and a steely-eyed demand that it be signed. Secret ballots, on the other hand, provide a process whereby workers are truly able to make a free choice about whether to unionize.

Although the concept can be traced back to Ancient Greece, secret ballots have been, for all practical purposes, the uniform method of electing political candidates in the United States since the late 19th century. The movement gained impetus following the abolition of slavery and, with it, the obvious need to accord protection to black voters who became the targets of ruthless, systematic intimidation.

In today's America, it's hard to imagine a system whereby the electorate would be required to cast public ballots. It's even harder to imagine a more surefire way to undermine the democratic process. Yet, that's precisely the system that Big Labor is hell-bent on impressing on American workers.

Despite Obama's support and the current congressional make-up, the Employee Free Choice Act is so palpably bad that its enactment is not yet a foregone conclusion. Still, one organization is already seeking to blunt its effect in the event that the measure does become law.

Save Our Secret Ballot has been lobbying to persuade the individual states to amend their constitutions to require a secret ballot in all elections and in all instances where authorizations are required for employee representation. It's a daunting undertaking, however, and one that is sure to face legal challenges even if it achieves only marginal success.

The Employee Free Choice Act is a vile desecration of the democratic process supported by labor-indebted politicians who, in any other context, would loudly decry it as a contemptible sham.

It also generates a question that just won't go away. If the case for unionization is so compelling, why is Big Labor so afraid of a secret ballot?